Bankstown's Sporting Hall of Fame celebrates our champions

BANKSTOWN'S sporting legends now have a home worthy of their achievements in the Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame.

BANKSTOWN'S sporting legends now have a home worthy of their achievements in the Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame.

The hall is part of the $4.2 million John Mackay Sports Centre, at Bankstown Memorial Oval.

More than 250 people attended Sunday's opening of the centre and hall of fame.

Twenty-three Bankstown athletes, including swimmer Ian Thorpe, soccer star Brett Emerton and Bulldogs rugby league great Hazem El Masri were inducted into the Hall of Fame, alongside more than 100 other sports greats who had been in a gallery at the oval.

IN PICTURES: Bankstown's Sporting Hall of Fame opening

Olympic water polo stars, sisters Melissa and Rebecca Rippon, were also inducted.

Other members of the hall of fame include cricket legends Steve and Mark Waugh and Jeff Thomson and Bulldogs Steve Folkes and Terry Lamb.

Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said 131 athletes had now been honoured.

"Bankstown is a city of success and the Sporting Hall of Fame is proof of that," Cr Asfour said.